Cleaner heads for vacuum cleaners typically comprise a brush bar located within a housing. A suction opening is provided in a lower surface of the housing, which is commonly known as a sole plate, through which dirt bearing air is drawn into the cleaner head.
A problem associated with conventional cleaner heads is that the close proximity required between the sole plate and the surface being cleaned in order to maintain pick-up performance means that large debris tends to be pushed across the surface being cleaned by the cleaner head rather than being drawn through the suction opening into the cleaner head. Alternatively, the cleaner head may ride up over the debris which can result in a loss of pressure within the cleaner head which adversely affects pick-up performance.